Thursday, October 30, 2014

Colour Craft is a column in The Welcome Mat.
In it I compare the three most used dye companies main colours I've groups for use in my publishing work. How to sub them for each other, what you need to know to dull them down and what will work best around the colour wheel.
I use all of the Majic Carpet Dyes and the following Pro Chem and Cushing dyes.

So far in Colour Craft we have covered Yellow, Orange and Red and today I published the Red Violet section.

Here is a great array of Red Violet recipe to use in your work.

Red Violet Sample

2/32 tsp. Red Violet

Brown Dulling Red Violet

2/32 tsp. Red Violet

1/64 tsp. Chocolate Brown

Black Dulling Red Violet

2/32 tsp. Red Violet

1/64 tsp. Black

Yellow Green Dulling Red Violet

2/32 Red Violet

2/32 Moss Green (you might be wondering why so much Moss
green? Once again I trust my eye rather than ideals… this red violet is
extremely strong. You need more of a weaker (by comparison) dye to dull it
down.

Method

Each red violet recipe was dyed over 1/16th yd of pre soaked natural wool in a
dye bath on the stovetop.

I added 1/8th tsp of
citric acid after half the dye was taken up, that varied according to the darkness of the formula. Wait until water clears completely. Rinse well and dry as you wish.

My oh my.... it paints a gray day splendidly against the last of the golden leaves.

Lupine

1/128 tsp. Red Violet

1/128 +1/256 tsp. Blue

1/256 tsp. Seal Brown

1/512 tsp Black

Method:

Dyed over 1/8th yd of natural wool. I wet the wool. I dissolved the Majic Carpet dyes together in boiling water, poured them into the barely heated dye bath, added the wool and waited until the water almost cleared to add 1/32 tsp citric acid or 1 tbsp vinegar.Wait for water to clear. Rinse well and dry.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Mine just came and it twigged my very poor memory. I made a video to accompany my Sept/Oct article, One Pot Parlay. I made two because I showed you how to correct them if they weren't satisfying. And I forgot to post them for you. There are many gorgeous formulas in the article.

If you find there is not much dye left add a bit of the
original into the second wool’s bath.

Once the dyeing is all done process in a 350˚ F Oven for 20
minutes.

Note: If you have two pots it is as easy to have two going
as it is to sing a round. Start
the first pot, at the first 10
minute mark when it is time to add acid, start the next pot. Every 10 minutes when
your buzzer goes you will add dye and wool or acid to each pot as required.

What do you think? Seems
simple doesn’t it? It is, just give it a whirl. I think you will be deeply
satisfied with these beautiful transitions . Try it this week end!

And the fix it!

Here are the results of the video:

I kinda missed my pastel goal but the array is gorgeous!

PS, You can shade with these parlays.... oh baby, crewel rugs just got a whole new lease on life!

Thursday, October 23, 2014

This is wonderful. There are a few recurring questions. What is it like, I want to see inside before I buy it and do I have to pay further for everything I want to do or see there?

One member recently said: The Mat is like " going to an online university offering undergrad, masters, doctorate degrees all from your own comfortable home!Wanda is a "ONER"...master professor..teacher...sage!"That made me blush a bit but it is true I like to aim high, go beyond expected outcomes. The Mat represents this. I like to meet you where you are and take you where you want to go even if that's nowhere!

Here are the pertinent facts:
I tell you pretty much everything I know about hooking and dyeing on the Mat.
4 weekly informative and fun discussions
1 teaching discussion a week
Free patterns
1 yearly free class which is not condensed or abridged version , full bore teaching in my interactive style.
Monthly dye column using Pro Chem, Cushings and Majic Carpet Dyes, yes all three.
Support for my RH magazine Colours To Dye For columns
Tutorials
Challenges
Yearly January Journal dare
Video tutorials on hooking and dyeing
Editorials that showcase my personal artistic development, what I'm learning now.

And there is much, much, much more.
If you enjoy my dye column in Rug Hooking imagine what this is like, I have no constraints of space or deadlines.
Take what you want and leave the rest on The Mat.
You don't even have to get any mail from us but read it like any other web page.
Everything is archived, searchable and questions are answered.
It continues to develop and change as you the subscriber requires.

Yes we have a few classes on the Mat that require a further fee. That said they are places where I teach one on one. They are a bargain, extensions are applied as required, can be signed into at any time and are a treasure trove.

All
colours dyed over 1/8th yd of natural wool. I wet the wool. I dissolved the
Majic Carpet dyes together in boiling water, poured them into the barely heated
dye bath, added the wool and waited until the water almost cleared to add 1/32
tsp citric acid or 1 tbsp vinegar. I added up to 1 tsp. of citric acid or 2/3
cup of vinegar when dye colour was dark.

Wait
until water clears. Some resting of wool in dye bath off the heat source may be
required in darker colours.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

I showed you a group of spot dyes yesterday and gave you the formula for the beautiful green one.
Wednesday needs a little more pep I think and so I've given you the formulas for it's companion piece Spectacle.

A Spot such as this is useful as outline, flower centers, to act as paisley cloth, if cut and kept in the order of cutting ( apply to piece of carpet or double sided tape) can act as an out of focus background.
It is useful in most geometrics, landscapes, orientals and even crewels. I even use them in portraits.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

'Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.' (Vincent Van Gogh)

Spot dyeing is one of the most exciting methods of dyeing. When we concentrate on the small things it takes to create them we end up with something grand ! As usual we have three main components, wool, dyes and pans and two secondary ones, acid and heat. The magical manipulation of these factors are what create the difference between ho hum and glorious spots.

Spotted by pouring the spots out of measuring cup in a checkerboard pattern. Please don't dribble the colour on, be bold.

Add the colours to wool in the order listed for exact replication. It will make a difference. Use a cup of water for each dye or group of dyes listed, pour boiling water in first to dissolve the dye (1/4 cup ) and fill up with cool water to one cup measure.

1/32 tsp. Brilliant Green

1/32 tsp. Moss Green

1/32 tsp. Bottle Green

1/32 tsp. Moss Green + 1/64 tsp. Seal Brown

1/32 tsp. Brilliant Green + 1 /32 Yellow

1/32 tsp. Bottle Green + 1/32 tsp. Reddish Brown

Add each dye individually once all dyes are applied, lightly mash in a gentle manner.

Bake at 350˚F for 20 to 30 minutes. I do not cover them nor add foil to the bottom of the pan before the wool is added.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Each week on the Welcome Mat we have a lesson called New Skills Monday.
Here is this week's, we love sharing on The Mat.

We'd love for you to join us, it is the best bang for your buck out there. Only .08 cents a day for the best inspiration for rug hooking artists online.

People ask me to write a book frequently and this truly is the book they want.
But better because I'm present and fairly live. It is the best kind of book, interactive.
I've been working my whole career with one goal, to help you realize your dreams and potential by helping you to look at things differently. Here is just one miniscule example.

New Skills Monday - Contrast and Background - A Simple Rug Study.

They've been on my mind because of our last lesson in the poppy class.

And while I posted the lesson I forgot to talk about the background in this rug.

We are going to share with you.

Let's look at my rug And The Day Came, sorry if you are tired of seeing it, I use it for my ads.

Here is a close up, we are looking at the background, see the variety of colours and the directions?

Some kinda stems, some kinda buds but in the background colours. You can see areas of lighter and darker action.

For the whole rug, it is 5'6" long I used about 5 different yard pieces of green that were similar in value. Some were just mottled with lighter and darker patches of the same colour.

Others were spot dyes of my 7 Greens Salad where I just take seven straight out of the bottle or mix green and dye up a yard of wool. Some were blue green, some true green and some yellowish green.

Can you see where the spot dyes are?

Let's look at it from a distance to get the whole impact of what happened with all these greens.

I also make sure if I come across a dark patch or a light patch in a strip that doesn't belong where I'm hooking. I reserve them ( cut them off ) and group them together where I need that kind of dimness or glow.

These greens make a "ghostly garden" and the sideways directions and the angled patches create subtle movement. Rather than do the usual with these 5 yards like cut them up and pull them randomly for a wormy background or pave it up and down in straight rows I let the greens paint patches. As you know I'm big on creating shapes in my wool painting whether it be face, flower or background.

The background of my letterings are three wanderings used either or. This means use one or two strips of one colour and then switch to the other colour to blend them. If you are interested in these formulas they are at the bottom of this discussion.

Contrast

I won a prize for this rug and it was published on a black and white page. I had played a great trick in this rug which isn't all that apparent.

I only used temperature and saturation to create contrast.

Look at it in black and white, what a terrible thing to publish, I bet people were shaking their heads. Barely any value contrast between flowers and background!

I hope you enjoyed this please add what you like. What kind of contrast do you like to create?

Friday, October 17, 2014

My friend Starr asked for a colour chart for Majic Carpet Dyes and I thought you might like it too.

We buy white jars with white lids so you can write the name of your dyes on top.
Hey today we wrote up some tips for new dyers who are purchasing a kit.
Maybe you would find it helpful too! Here it is.

Welcome to The Majic

We are so happy you have chosen our wonderful dyes.

This box they arrived in is
great for storing your dyes, hang onto it!

Majic Carpet Dyes are easy to use and are great mixers. You
can dye any colour with any other colour in equal measures and get a wonderful
array of spectacular colours.

If the colours seem too bright out of the jar use a small
amount of Seal Brown to dull the warm colours( the colours you see in fire) and
use a small amount of black to dull the cool colours( the ones you see in
water). Please only use small amounts of citric acid to dye, you only need 1/32
tsp. for light colours and ½ tsp for dark ones.

If you would like more concrete instruction I have a
Beginner dye Booklet for sale in my store, www.wandaworks.ca
. My online studio for creative and artistic growth is full of dyeing info,
only $30.00 a year.

I’m here to help you reach your dyeing goals.

Basic Dye Bath Method

Every
time we dye we are dealing with 4 things: Heat Wool Dyes Methods

Here
is the most basic method of dyeing.

Find
a large pot, pan that you can devote to dyeing.Fill it half way up with water,
heat to a simmer.

While
you wait, wet your wool very thoroughly with the addition of shampoo, jet dry,
or synthropol.

Add
dye to water ( use a formula to help you at first if you have never dyed
before)

Add
wool to water, stir around for smooth result, leave with out stirring for
mildly spottier results. Wait until almost all the dye has been absorbed into
the wool.

You can test this by dipping a white
spoon into dye bath to gauge how much colour is left.